PAKISTAN and Saudi Arabia have recently restored their once-close relationship, signing a landmark agreement to expand defence cooperation.
This reunion comes after more than half a decade of both countries exploring alternative strategic alignments, only to return to their traditional partnership. The new defence pact, carrying significant strategic and geopolitical importance, has reignited debates across the Middle East and South Asia, where it is being interpreted through multiple lenses and perspectives.
The strains in Pakistan-Saudi relations had deepened when Islamabad chose to align with a new bloc led by Iran, Turkiye and Malaysia, an initiative that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman took as a serious affront. Personal tensions between former prime minister Imran Khan and MBS, often whispered about in policy circles at that time, further complicated matters. But the cracks had appeared earlier, when Pakistan refused to dispatch troops to Yemen, despite the red-carpet welcome prime minister Nawaz Sharif had received from King Salman bin Abdulaziz. The crown prince’s ambition to build an ‘Islamic Nato’ also faltered, pushing Riyadh to explore other strategic options, including strengthening ties with India and relying more heavily on the US for defence.
In this context, Saudi Arabia, along with the UAE, envisioned, with the US, an ‘India-Middle East Economic Corridor’ in 2023, conceived as a counterweight to China’s Belt and Road Initiative. Pakistan, tied deeply to the BRI through the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, found itself excluded from this alternative connectivity project.
During this period of strain, both Pakistan and Saudi Arabia tested the limits of their influence. Pakistan’s establishment pursued ‘patron shopping’, seeking new alliances and sources of support, while Saudi Arabia recalibrated its neighbourhood policy, mending ties with Iran, reimagining its partnership with Turkiye, and reshaping its strategic engagement with Russia.
At the same time, Pakistan sought to create inroads into Central Asia and the Baltic region, with a particular focus on Azerbaijan, while further strengthening its ties with Turkiye to fill the geopolitical void left by its estranged relationship with Saudi Arabia.
In short, over the past seven years, both nations have gone through bitter as well as sweet experiences, and there is hope that the foundation of their renewed relationship will prove as solid as before. One advantage for Pakistan this time is that the ‘Iran factor’ is less likely to strain ties, as it did in the past.
Saudi Arabia and Iran have already developed a functional state-to-state relationship. Tellingly, even as Pakistan and Saudi Arabia signed their new defence cooperation agreement, Iran’s foreign minister was in Riyadh on a follow-up visit to President Masoud Pezeshkian’s April trip to maintain the momentum of their relationship, which Tehran needs most in the volatile Middle East situation. During that visit, Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, met with both MBS and Defence Minister Khalid bin Salman, signalling a broader regional détente.
The future of renewed Pak-Saudi ties lies in standing together during difficult times.
Although the recent pact is not the first defence-related agreement between the two nations, one clause has drawn particular attention: “any aggression against either country shall be considered an aggression against both”. For Pakistan analysts, the significance of this commitment, modelled on Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, lies in the Indian context, while many Saudi and Middle Eastern experts view it through the prism of Yemen and potential aggression from Israel.
As for Saudi-India relations, their trajectory is unlikely to change dramatically. Over the past two decades, both countries have invested heavily in economic, strategic, and political ties that cannot easily be reversed. Under Vision 2030, Saudi Arabia seeks to diversify its economy, reduce dependence on oil and attract foreign investment in areas where India is considered a vital partner. If conflict were to erupt between India and Pakistan, the most Riyadh would realistically do is attempt to mediate, as it did during the stand-off of May 2020.
A crucial lesson Saudi Arabia has drawn in recent years is that its relationship with Pakistan cannot be reduced to transactional security concerns or proxy wars. Despite past strains, the partnership remains broader and more profound. The future of this renewed relationship lies in standing together during difficult times, expanding military training and joint defence production, and building capabilities that not only strengthen both sides but also send a clear message to any potential aggressor: the Pakistan-Saudi friendship is not to be breached.
The optimism that followed the agreement — that it might pave the way for an Islamic bloc — is little more than an illusion. The rulers of Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states lack both the vision and the desire to pursue such a project, having long felt that sentimentality has yielded little in the past and is unlikely to pay off in the future.
The idea of an Islamic alliance is, in fact, more of a Tehran aspiration, born out of Iran’s relative isolation in the Muslim world and its need to project moral and ideological leadership. Beyond Iran, these utopian notions are sustained mainly by radicals, both violent and non-violent, within Muslim societies, as well as by ideologues who occasionally compel rulers to adopt such rhetoric, as has often happened in Pakistan. In reality, the idea remains impractical, especially when multiple Muslim nations continue to vie for leadership of the ummah.
The revived Pakistan-Saudi relationship, however, will bring tangible economic and financial benefits to Pakistan. Yet, one critical lesson for Pakistan’s power elites is that the country’s persistent economic fragility has itself strained ties with Riyadh. Time and again, Pakistani leaders have looked towards Saudi Arabia in moments of crisis, reducing the relationship to a lifeline for financial bailouts. True national strength does not lie in defence capabilities alone; it depends on internal cohesion and sustained economic growth.
The writer is a security expert.
Published in Dawn, September 21st, 2025
